On 6 June, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Replies to Requests for Instructions on Issues concerning the Application of Law, which will come into force on 1 September 2023. The Provisions, which comprise 25 articles, make it clear that the High People's Court may submit a request for instructions to the SPC in five types of cases, including cases where there is any major dispute over the application of law since there are no specific provisions in laws, regulations, judicial interpretations, and regulatory documents, and so forth, and that requests for instructions may not be submitted in respect of the matter of fact of a case. The SPC filing division shall complete its review within three working days from the date of receipt of the request for instructions, and the reply to the request for instructions shall be assigned a case number, with the type of substitution being "law reply". The reply of the SPC shall be implemented by the people's court that filed the request, but may not be cited as the basis for a decision.

(Source: court.gov.cn)